First Contact: Nocturne
by Immortal Drake
Summary: Everyone knows about the Cornerian invasion of Earth, known as the First Contact War to some. What if things went differently, what if the Cornerians attracted the attention of a much different race, one as old as humans, but much different? What will happen when the wrath of the Children of Nocturne is awakened?
1. Prologue: Diverge

**A/N: Hello hello again everyone. Immortal Drake here with yet another new story. For those who have found this story after reading another one of mine, don't worry, those will still progress. This was one of those ideas that I had to put onto a document otherwise I'd forget it. First things first, I did get permission from Sheppard to write and publish this spin-off, if you don't believe me you can ask him. I'll admit I find this idea partially crazy myself, but let's see what gets thrown at the wall and sticks eh?**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Star Fox, nor do I own the concepts and OCs featured in the original First Contact. All I've got to my name here are the OCs not featured in the original and the changed plotline. Warning: Non-Twilight vampires are featured below, so read at your own risk. Without further ado, please read, review, and enjoy (I know I enjoyed writing this).**

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First Contact: Nocturne

By: Immortal Drake

Pain, mind-numbing, excruciating pain was what greeted the light brown anthropomorphic husky. Blearily she opened her eyes, looking around the cockpit of her aircraft. Thankfully the rocket had only managed to hit the wing, and not the cockpit like it almost had thanks to her last-second evasive maneuvering. However, the craft had plummeted straight down about a thousand feet into the hard sandy ground, which had no doubt done the rocket's work for it.

"Fuck," was the only word that came to mind to describe her situation. A sudden, acrid smell hit her nose, goading her into action, ' _That's definitely the G-diffusors_ ,' she thought to herself as she searched for the hatch release. Finding the lever in its familiar place, she yanked on it, sending the canopy up and over her head with the sound of hydraulics. Gritting her teeth, she unclasped her seatbelt and clambered out, though not before a spike of pain in her side turned her climb into a tumble to the ground below.

"Fuckin'…OUCH!" she yelped as she landed on her tail. She pulled the appendage out from under her butt, quickly elbowing the Arwing out of spite as she did so, as if it was to blame for her misfortune. The husky tried to stand, only for her side to twinge again and bring her to her knees. "Fine, crawling then," she muttered to herself.

The husky began crawling away from the Arwing, knowing that she had to put as much distance between herself and it as possible before the g-diffusors went up, otherwise she was toast. Not to mention it was so freaking cold and somewhat hard to breathe as she tried to get away, slowing her efforts. She could feel warmth and dampness spreading through her flight suit from her side, weakening her movements further.

She tried to bring the transmitter on her left arm up to her face, to contact someone, anyone. The limb wouldn't respond enough, she wasn't able to lift it close enough even as she continued her crawl towards safety.

"There it is, I see the fire!" called out a voice to her left. The glare of headlights greeted her as she heard what sounded like a car come to a halt and doors opening and closing. Footsteps walked over asphalt and then dirt towards her, the husky getting the distinct impression that they weren't there to help her.

The newcomers were revealed to be humans wearing the combat fatigues that had become familiar to her during the Cornerian invasion of Earth. One held onto a blocky assault rifle while the other was unarmed.

"Hey, I think I see the pilot," one of them said walking towards her, shining the bright beam of a flashlight on her. The husky let out a growl subconsciously.

"Whoa, did he just growl at you?" the human's companion said, grip shifting on his assault rifle.

"I don't know…Maybe it was—what the hell?" the first human replied, no doubt having caught sight of her tail.

The human that had spotted her tail gave it a kick, drawing a high-pitched whine from the husky. "Hey Don, it's a dog…it's like a human, and a dog at the same time, weird," the human commented.

She started to reach for her handgun, but was roughly flipped over onto her back for her troubles, the weapon wrenched from her hand as it clattered on the ground and her arms forced together at her wrists.

She got a much better look at the humans, their mostly hairless faces looking down on her. She almost missed it, but it looked like a shadow moved behind the armed human, she dismissed it as a trick of her blood loss addled mind. They also got a better look at her too.

The human that had rolled her over gave a low whistle, "Oh hey, it's a girl pilot," he stated the obvious.

"Nué sich diza!" the husky snapped back at him.

"Take her weapons and shit, I don't want her going off on us," the rifle bearing human said to his companion, right before something again shifted behind the man and the car's headlights went out.

"What the hell?!" the human holding her shouted, shining his flashlight towards his companion, the human with the rifle, Don. The soldier was pointing his rifle towards the vehicle.

"I think I see someone in there, you in the car, get out now! That's property of the US Army!" Don shouted. Whatever or whoever was apparently inside either wasn't listening or didn't care, as Don shouted his order again, advancing on the driver's side door.

Don suddenly yelped and was pulled behind the car, where the sound of ripping flesh assaulted the husky's keen hearing and a loud hiss soon followed. "D-Don?" the other human hesitantly called out. The human yelped as a dark blur suddenly leaped from the shadows and slammed into him, sending the soldier flying backward, the flashlight falling out of his grip.

As the flashlight came to rest near her head, the husky could barely see anything, the beam of light resting on the humans' car. The fire of her Arwing cast everything else in a red tint. A heavy impact from the human landing and then a similar impact as if from a heavy punch followed it, before everything was silent.

It felt like hours had passed since everything went silent aside from the crackling flames. The husky didn't dare move, lest she draw the wrath of the mysterious attackers upon herself. Pain still racked her, and it took all her willpower to keep silent, no matter how much it hurt.

She heard footsteps again, from behind her field of view. She froze as a dark figure entered her view, a hooded jacket with baggy pants and gloves hiding their exact features from her view. Another similarly clothed figure walked out from behind the vehicle, though their coat was stained with bright red blood. She stifled a whimper as the two approached and then crouched over her. From the way their hoods shifted, they seemed to be curious, the bloody one reaching down and feeling the material of her flight suit over her stomach before drawing their hand back.

The two looked at each other, both sending repeated gazes her way as they seemed to converse in a way she couldn't hear. Pain rolled up her side again and she couldn't stifle a groan this time. That seemed to make the two come to a decision, and the one without blood on them looked directly at her. Eyes as red as blood suddenly and startlingly glowing slightly through the shadows of their hood looked her right in the eyes. They seemed so, hypnotic, alluring and yet so alien. She could feel herself starting to get drowsy, she wasn't sure how or why, but her own thoughts turned sluggish and her eyelids grew heavy.

The last thing she heard before falling under was a voice in her head, ' _Goodnight Ms. Spitz._ '

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 **A/N: Ok, yes I know this is shorter than my usual work. But you can expect further chapters to be longer than this, and perhaps feature other viewpoints to see what changes. Hopefully what happened here in the prologue was interesting enough for y'all. I also hope that my vampires were not too cliché or disappointing.**

 **Anyway, I will see y'all, next time in the next installment of First Contact: Nocturne!**


	2. 1: Regent

**A/N: Hello everyone and welcome back to First Contact: Nocturne! See, this isn't just a little one-off thing, I actually do want to develop this story, and wow this was a doozy of a chapter. I wanted to take a bit of a note from Shep and try to write a longer chapter with multiple viewpoints, let me know what y'all think, is a longer chapter good, or would something a bit smaller work better? If you're reading this now and have read it before, I've made some small alterations to things, fixes as far as I know and expanded the codex segment.**

 **Also, as this is a spin-off of First Contact, if you liked that story, please note that there's a sequel, Star Fox: Veria if you haven't seen it already. It's really good and I highly recommend it!**

 **Disclaimer: See Prologue.**

 **Warning: Things get rather violent in this chapter, so be warned.**

 **And without further ado, please read, review, and enjoy!**

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 ****Unknown Location****

Sheila Spitz awoke to a splitting headache that caused her to groan. In fact, everything ached, from the tips of her ears down to her toes. Her limbs and head felt heavy and sluggish, and it was hard to get her eyes to open for more than an instant. She also felt dampness all over her side, where her wound was.

' _The crash_ ,'That thought brought her instantly to full wakefulness, bringing the husky into a startled sitting position, only to groan again as it made her head protest at the sudden motion. The next thing she noticed was the sudden draft that seemed to run over her body, and that she wasn't alone judging from the surprised yelp that came from off to her side.

Looking down at herself, Sheila barely suppressed a yelp of her own as she found herself in only her underwear; the husky quickly covered herself with her arms and tail, despite the protests from her limbs. Looking around for something, she found herself on a rough metal table in what appeared to be a stone room with five stone walls in a pentagonal shape, with torches on each wall and corner providing light with surprisingly no smoke. Then she locked eyes with the room's other occupant.

She looked like a human, with the same mostly hairless face and body shape; though she was lither than the humans Sheila had seen so far on Earth, her features also angular almost to the point of hawkishness. The girl wore a simple light blue blouse and skirt, with dark leggings the ended just below her knees. What was most striking about the girl to Sheila were her bright red eyes, her pale slightly greyed skin, her pointed ears that poked through her shoulder-length brown hair, and not to mention the short sharp claws she had instead of fingernails that were held up as if to ward off the husky.

The two continued to stare at each other for what felt like minutes, before Sheila noticed that they had left her transmitter on her wrist, the cold metal pressing into her fur. She activated the translator as discreetly as possible, hoping that the creature before her understood English. "Hello?" she said hesitantly, trying to sound non-threatening, "Do you understand me?"

The girl cocked her head to the side, before nodding slowly.

"What's your name?" Sheila said, smiling a little to try and encourage the girl to speak.

"My name is Anna," the girl answered, speaking so softly the husky could barely hear her, averting her eyes.

Sheila decided to turn things to the next most pressing issue, her clothes. "Do you know where my flight suit is? My clothes?" she said, already beginning to get off of the table, making every effort to keep her undergarments concealed behind an arm or a leg or her tail.

Anna only pointed behind the husky, looking down at the ground and away from Sheila. ' _What a strange girl_ ,' Sheila thought as she turned to look where Anna was pointing, seeing her flight suit draped over a rickety looking wooden chair. As quickly as her aching limbs allowed, she shuffled over to the chair. Picking it up, she found that where the cloth had been torn when she had been wounded was sewn back up, nearly unnoticeable if she hadn't been looking for it. She quickly slipped into it, finding her boots on the floor near the chair and putting them on as well. The only thing she didn't find was her handgun, ' _I'm stuck here unarmed_ , _just what do they want_?' she thought to herself.

"Now what?" she said, projecting her thoughts out loud. Anna had turned back to her after the husky had finished dressing, standing fully now instead of the half-crouch Sheila had seen her in. By the husky's estimates the girl stood only around five feet and five inches, and the claws she had seen on the girl's fingers had mysteriously vanished, she even seemed less pale, though she still looked a little peaked. Her eyes had even lost their red color, becoming a dark brown to match her hair. The seeming transformation absolutely boggled the husky's mind, making her wonder if she'd been seeing things earlier.

"The Regent wants to see you," Anna suddenly said out of the blue, though her demure demeanor certainly hadn't vanished. The human slowly approached one of the walls of the room, before rapping on it. The wall suddenly split and slid open, apparently it was a concealed door that was very cleverly hidden as a wall. Anna poked her head out and spoke quietly to someone on the other side of the door, so much so Sheila's ears couldn't pick it up. After a quick answer, the door opened more and Anna turned back to her, "Follow me, please," she said.

Her curiosity piqued, the husky followed, ' _It's not like I could find my way out, let alone fight if it came to that_ ,' she thought to herself, the ache in her limbs reminding her of that fact.

As Sheila walked out of the hidden door, she didn't find anyone out there, ' _Who was she talking to_?' she mused to herself as she saw the girl was turning down the hallway she had found herself in. The hallway was tall and lined with arched supports, almost like the husky was in one of the old historic stone buildings on Corneria, but also slightly narrow. The same smokeless torches provided ample light to see by, making it easy to follow her apparent guide. As they walked, Sheila noticed that there happened to be a number of rustlings in the darker corners of the supports, though it seemed that Anna didn't notice it.

"So, who's this Regent?" Sheila prodded her guide, thinking to get some more information from the girl if she could. Perhaps she could find out why they healed her and saved her from the humans.

"You will meet her soon," Anna said, before turning back to look straight ahead.

Sheila huffed quietly to herself, that hadn't been all too helpful, she had at least learned this "Regent" was a woman, or at least female. "Why did you bring me here?" she tried again to get more information from the seemingly human girl.

"The Regent will explain," Anna replied, again stonewalling the husky, much to the latter's frustration.

The hallway took a couple different turns, then opened up into a much larger room, lined with the same arched supports now becoming columns with the much higher arched ceiling. Other larger doorways lined the walls of the large chamber, but a doorway that eclipsed them all stood at the opposite end, two equally large wooden doors barred it closed. The entire thing almost reminded her of a church.

Anna wasted no time in leading the husky towards the large pair of doors at the end of the chamber. Feeling a tad curious, Sheila looked down the other hallways, and found that a multitude of rooms were visible down the much shorter passages. She saw what looked like a cafeteria with a bunch of other humans milling about and sitting at tables, a training room with some humans sparring in pairs, though they seemed much quicker than they ought to be. She also saw what appeared to be a forge, though the heat that should have been coming from it and heating the chamber didn't seem present.

It took almost bumping into the human that made Sheila stop, noticing that they'd made it to the doors at the end of the room. A large dark-skinned human with a short ponytail and grey eyes leaned slightly on the doorframe, he had similar angular features to the girl, though his were much more chiseled in appearance, his muscular frame visible through his white t-shirt. He also wore a black pair of jeans and heavy-duty boots covered his feet from her.

"The Regent is waiting for you," the large man said, standing up and opening the door with a hand, revealing that he easily towered over Sheila, unnerving the husky slightly.

Anna bowed her head slightly, but didn't follow, instead motioning for Sheila to go with the other human into the room. She did as she was bid, following the large man in. As she walked with the large human blocking her view for a moment, she saw that despite his size, he moved with an easy, almost predatory grace. He was definitely more than he appeared to be.

As she passed through the doorway, Sheila became aware of what sounded like, a piano being played? As she got further in, she got a much better earful of the song being played. The notes felt like they were flowing over her in a beautiful, if somber and haunting tune that made her ears twitch and her thoughts briefly turning towards home, and the lupine she had gone off to find on this world. The one she loved with all her heart, she could practically feel her eyes beginning to water at the thought of him, ' _Wolf_.'

The chamber she was walking into was much darker than the other one, with fewer torches creating large pockets of shadow and especially towards the ceiling, with a central raised dais being the centerpiece. All the way across the chamber was what looked like the piano. It was a great wooden piece, large enough to take up most of the alcove it was put in. Someone, Sheila guessed it might be the Regent, sat on the bench, a long coat draped over the bench behind them, and their long hair settled over their shoulders. From what glimpses she could catch of their hands their fingers practically flew over the keys, still creating the haunting melody even as she approached. The husky was so entranced that she didn't even notice she had left her intimidating escort behind, skirting the dais as she approached the piano player.

 _THUD_

The sound made her freeze, it had come from directly behind her, and it had sounded big. She turned around slowly, and the sight nearly made her heart stop. Not even five feet away from her was what could only be described as a massive bat that towered over her, and she reckoned it might even make the large man that led her in look small. Its wingspan was even longer than it was tall, blocking out much of the torchlight behind it, shrouding her in a deep shadow and giving it a red-tinged halo. The short fur on its body rippled over its muscular form, though it seemed to thin even more over its legs, its feet entirely hairless with long sharp-looking claws. The fur on the head and neck actually became thicker and shaggier, with what looked like sparse quills placed randomly among its mane.

The face of the beast was another thing entirely, covered in similar shaggy fur that was only thinner. Its muzzle was filled with sharp teeth, with very pronounced fangs, and was also armored almost akin to a beak with ridges on the top. Two wide nostrils flared and contracted, no doubt taking in the scent of her fear. Two slanted red eyes practically glowed in its eye sockets, staring down at her.

"Oh my, where _are_ my manners?" the feminine voice that suddenly came from the large bat brought Sheila's brain to a halt. The large bat's eyes seemed to glimmer in amusement before it, giggled, and then started to dissolve in what seemed to be a mass of writhing shadows. Its form flowed and contracted, becoming bipedal, and humanoid.

After a few moments of shifting, the bat was soon resolved into a tall human woman only slightly taller than Sheila. The angular features on all the other people she'd seen so far seemed to be magnified on her, making her look absolutely hawkish in appearance, the sharp lines of her features giving her an air of both danger and speed. Her hair was long and slicked back behind her ears, glinting silver in the light. The rest of the shadows resolved into a form-fitting outfit of cloth in a mottled pattern of black and shades of grey. A half-skirt hung behind her from the woman's hips while the rest of her was covered in the mottled cloth. Light leather boots completed her ensemble. The only thing that didn't change were her bright red eyes, that seemed to retain their glow despite the light on her.

Sheila's brain meanwhile was short circuiting; she had just seen what appeared to be a human, shapeshift from the form of a giant bat. And even stranger, the human had acted like that wasn't even the big deal. The husky tried to speak, but all that came out was, "Whuh?"

The human woman tittered, smiling behind a barely concealing hand, "Oh dear, I think I broke her Johnathan," she said, half-turning her head towards the man that had escorted her in. Johnathan didn't seem to have any comment, though Sheila may have spotted a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. She barely registered that the piano had stopped playing for a while now.

Finally managing to get her thoughts straight, Sheila immediately said the first thing that came to mind, "How? How did you do that, you were a bat, and now you're human!"

This seemed to bring another giggle from the woman, "My dear Ms. Spitz, you have no idea what we are do you?" she replied.

The woman's answer frustrated the husky a little, "And how the hell do you know my name?" she growled.

"That, I can answer my dear," the woman said, the smile never seeming to leave her face, "You remember my fang-sons rescuing you do you not?"

Sheila hesitantly nodded, though the woman's wording was a little odd. The human continued after a bit of thought, "Essentially, I read your mind through the one that put you under."

That, Sheila had not expected, "But, humans can't read minds, let alone read someone's mind through another. Only Cerinians have any kind of psychic abilities," she said, though her own statement sounded a little unsure even to her.

"Well, then you're quite mistaken now aren't you?" the woman said, starting to walk around to the husky's left and circle her. Sheila didn't dare move, lest the woman attack her for some reason. The sudden whisper in her ear from right behind her almost made the husky jump, "We know much about you, we know why your kind is here, we know what advantages you have over the humans," the woman's breath tickled Sheila's ear, "All because of you, Husky 1."

The mention of her squadron number sent a shiver down her spine, but one detail stuck in her mind. "You make it sound like you aren't human," she couldn't help but say as the woman strode back into view, silent as a cat and easily as graceful.

This got an actual chuckle out of the woman, "Because we're not, youngling, Anna should have given you a clue as to our nature."

Sheila thought back to the girl's first appearance, the pale grayish skin, the red eyes, the pointed ears, the claws. Those weren't regular human features from what she remembered reading about humans or heard about them. The next thought was enough to make her take an involuntary step back, bringing a wide Cheshire grin spreading to the woman's face, baring a mouth full of sharp teeth with elongated needle-like canines.

"Now you're getting it," the woman said, her expression very much like a cat that had just caught a mouse.

"What, are you?" Sheila replied, her voice hitching despite herself.

The woman giggled, the husky's fear giving it a sinister edge, "We are the Children of Nocturne, the Scions of Blood and Fang, or if you want to know the name given to us by humans, vampires."

"I thought they were only stories, you have to be messing with me, where's the interrogator with the drugs or virtual reality switch, I'll tell you whatever you want if you just shut this off!" Sheila said as her voice rose in volume, hoping beyond hope what was in front of her was just some trick or interrogation technique.

"I assure you Ms. Spitz, I am quite real, as are the two with us," said the woman, or Regent as Sheila now supposed, as she reached out to the husky. Sheila nearly flinched as the Regent's cool hand brushed along her cheek, the temperature noticeable even through her fur.

As the Regent drew her hand away, Sheila let go of a breath she didn't know she'd been holding, hesitantly drawing another as her heart started racing. She'd only heard brief mention of any folk tales or legends of humans, since they didn't have any relevance to the mission. But from what fragments she remembered, she was in some very serious danger alone and unarmed with these creatures.

"W-what do you want with me?" she said, her voice shaking from her nerves.

"Oh don't fret," the Regent said suddenly, her voice taking on a warm motherly tone as she took a step closer, "We won't hurt you, if you're willing to do something for me and mine," she continued, her voice strangely drawing the husky in and calming her nerves. Those words held much more weight than they should have, yet Sheila could help but feel calmer.

"What do you want from me?" she said again, trying to shake the light fuzz over her mind and thoughts that had developed.

"We want you to send a message to your comrades, tell them what wrath they have brought down upon them by attacking our food," the Regent said, taking the final step to bridge the distance between them. The Regent suddenly brought her hand up and placed her hand to Sheila's forehead.

A feeling of weightlessness overtook the husky, images started to flash before her eyes. She was over the ruins of one of the human cities they had attacked. "Your kind's destruction of many of our kind's food and homes has drawn much attention to you," the Regent's voice echoed in her head. Figures were roaming the wreckage, some survivors, but others started gathering in groups and seeming silent. Sheila could hear a sudden burst of whisperings, discussing the attack and taking a head count. These groups started moving with purpose through the destruction, looking for wounded and those with free hands picking them up bodily. Many had their necks bitten before they even realized they'd been abducted by vampires.

The scene shifted again, to a trio of she guessed were more vampires, moving through a forest, "Even the rogues have sensed the shift in the world's balance of power, they will be drawn to you and yours and other battlegrounds, as is their ken," the Regent mentally told her. The creatures quickly built up speed, easily rivaling a vehicle's top speed as they broke into dead sprints, dodging trees with great agility.

Sheila suddenly found herself in the sky again, the sun setting behind her. Much to her surprise a sudden great flock of bats began swirling around her, all heading the same direction. She couldn't suppress a yelp as she saw another of the gigantic bat-beasts that the Regent had been when the husky had first seen her. "The other covens already move in, we will fight to defend our food Ms. Spitz, even if it means our extinction," the Regent said, her mental words holding a deadly assurance that left no room for doubt in Sheila's mind. The bat-beast flew right at her and opened its mouth in a loud shriek as Sheila cowered.

Just as its maw was about to bite down on her she found that the images had stopped and that the Regent was standing on the dais some feet away from her, looking half-amused at the slightly sweaty and fearful husky cowering still from the vision. She could still hear the echoes of the beast's hellish call, the shaking feeling not having left her legs yet. Thankfully she hadn't peed herself in front of the Regent or the other vampires.

Trying to instill some confidence in herself, and to try to shake off the scare, Sheila spoke up, "You want me to give them this message, what's going to stop anyone else from jumping me out there?"

The Regent didn't stop smiling, and with a wave of her hand Johnathan came forward, a glass with what looked like wine in it in his hand. "Thank you Johnathan," the Regent said, though she hadn't taken the glass. She held her arm over the glass, and to Sheila's surprise held up her opposite hand as a long claw extended from her pointer finger. The Regent then slowly drew the claw over her arm held over the glass, drawing a line of dark red blood. With an almost lazy flick, the Regent took her claw away from her arm, letting a number of drops of the fluid drip into the wine.

After what seemed to be the sufficient amount had dropped in, the Regent lifted her arm up, letting some blood draw a red line down towards her elbow. In a very surprising move, the Regent licked first her claw and then her arm with a tongue longer than a human's and ending in a tapered whip-like tip. Where her tongue touched her arm, the cut healed instantly! "Like the bats associated with us, our saliva helps accelerate healing and staves off infection," the Regent said with a smile as Johnathan swirled the mixed blood and wine, the finished product looking a bit darker than the wine it had been.

Johnathan then walked over towards Sheila and presented the glass to her, his graceful stride not jostling any of the liquid inside. The husky hesitantly took it, "What's this for?" she couldn't help saying.

"The wine is to dilute my blood, drink it, and all who smell you will know you belong to me, they won't touch you, many rogues know better than to cross one of the larger covens in the Americas," the Regent said calmly, "I will also be sending my birth-son Cordelion with you, to provide some added insurance," she added, motioning to the piano player.

The vampire got up, showing that he had a similar angular cast to his face, though it was less than even Johnathan's own features surprisingly. He had a similar silvery cast to his hair, though it seemed more gray than silver. His trench coat swung about his lithe frame and over his black t-shirt and cargo pants. His boots made less sound than she expected as he approached her. She could also see the grip of her handgun on his belt and that of a human gun on his opposite hip. He looked at her coolly out of dark green eyes. Cordelion stopped just short of her personal space, for which the husky was thankful.

Sheila then returned her gaze to the glass in her hand, hesitating. Could she really trust the word of these creatures? They hadn't killed her, they'd even healed her, only to send her back out to contact the ones in charge and deliver a message for them. They needed her, if only to send their message peacefully. She wasn't sure if they knew of her own conflicted loyalties, if they knew her intention was to actually find Wolf.

"Drink," the Regent said again, her eyes seeming to shimmer. That same fuzz came over Sheila's mind again, the husky trying to blink it away as the words seemed to have a very alluring tone to them. She brought the glass to her lips and drank the concoction. Surprisingly it didn't seem to have any of the effects she expected alcohol to have, but it did have a very strong tang to it. After she had finished the glass, she felt a sudden spike of pain through her head, and she dropped it to clutch at her hair with both hands. It felt like her head was being split in half, and when she opened her eyes there was a red haze around her vision before she scrunched them shut again.

After what felt like forever, she opened her eyes again as the pain subsided, the haze was also gone from her sight. She found Johnathan had somehow caught the wine glass and the Regent was looking at her, an eyebrow raised questioningly. "I'm fine," Sheila answered, straightening up. To her surprise she actually felt more energized than before, the subtle ache was gone and she actually felt a little stronger almost.

Another thought occurred to the husky, "This won't be permanent will it?" she couldn't help saying.

"The effects will last until my blood is filtered out of your system, which should be for many hours yet," the Regent answered, "Now go."

At a motion from her new escort, Sheila was sent out of the room and out into the halls. What she hadn't expected was to find a crowd had gathered, many vampires that looked to be different ages and even different human ethnicities were mingling among them. There were many whispers, both vocal and she almost thought she caught a hint of a mental conversation going on, but as soon as the doors closed the crowd stopped and then parted for the two. Cordelion made quick time as he walked immediately for the door that the husky thought led back to where they'd held her. To her surprise, he led her down even more hallways, an upward slope becoming the common factor between them all.

She was about to comment when they reached what seemed to be a dead end, but then he touched it and slid it to the side, revealing what looked to be a natural cavern. "The caves make for a natural hiding place of the coven's location," Cordelion explained, "Humans rarely venture out here and it's easy to keep intruders away." His voice was surprisingly moderate for a male, yet was smooth as silk.

As they walked through the caves, the vampire leading the way, Sheila decided to ask a question, "What's the difference between a fang-son and a birth-son?"

Cordelion paused, and Sheila was momentarily afraid she had offended the vampire, before he continued on, "A fang-son or fang-daughter is a human who was turned by a vampire, a birth-son or birth-daughter is a vampire born to a vampire," he replied, hesitant for the first time that she'd seen him, though his tone indicated he didn't want to discuss this further. Taking the hint, the husky kept silent.

The trip through the coolness of the caverns was short-lived, at least at the pace Cordelion set, and they were quickly at the mouth of the cave. Sunlight streamed in from the afternoon sun. Sheila quickly stepped out into the light, loving the warmth on her fur, unable to help doing a quick twirl that had her hair and tail flowing about her after what felt like so long without it. She looked back to her guide, who seemed to be preparing himself before stepping out into the light. "I thought vampires couldn't be out in the sunlight," she said.

"We can," was all the answer she got.

And with that she looked out into the distance. She thought she saw a town just visible as a bit of a smudge down below and out from the rocky rise that held the cave entrance. "Anywhere in particular you want me to call in?" she said to the vampire.

"Not here, too close to the coven," was his answer.

Sheila gave an annoyed huff, "Then what distance is good enough?" She hoped to get at least a little time to look for Wolf and apologize, if her luck held out.

Cordelion didn't answer her verbally, in fact him being so quiet caused her to turn around to see him in her personal space, and before she could so much as squeak he had picked her up bridal style and they were just as suddenly hurtling down the rise at a rather high speed. She would reluctantly admit that she was screaming obscenities at the vampire all the way down.

* * *

 ****Nellis Air Force Base-Las Vegas, Nevada****

Today was a good day. Well, not for the humans, Sergeant Kale Rayes mused to himself as he and his squad searched the wreckage of the human air force base left behind by their destroyer's bombardment. Already some had found survivors, executing them with neither pomp nor ceremony, just like they deserved.

Kale himself was of a Great Dane breed of Cornerian. He stood at six-foot-eight and had a quite muscular frame that strained his combat uniform despite the lankiness common to his breed. Another still breathing human popped out of the wreckage, and Kale brought him down with a well-placed shot to the heart. He still thanked the ingenuity of Vince Stazac for developing the armor he wore now, it had saved his life a number of times, as evidenced by the small tears where bullets had hit the Dane but not passed through.

The roar of Arwing engines overhead signaled another pass by the Hunts squadron passing over them. And another roar told of the destruction of another human building via the destroyer's rockets. Another survivor was dragged out of a hiding place behind him screaming, then a single shot silenced it.

"How are things progressing on the ground Sergeant?" Koval's voice broke through the noise on Rayes' headset.

"Everything's going smoothly sir, no casualties and only pathetic resistance to meet us, no alien is getting out of here alive, just like you ordered," Rayes answered his superior. A slight movement in one of the ruins caused him to pause and point his gun that way, causing the rest of his squad to pause as well and wonder what he was looking at.

"What is it Sarge?" asked a purple-coated panther, his voice curious.

"Thought I saw something move in there," the Great Dane said back.

A startled cry from a pig soldier and a burst of fire ringing out drew everyone else's attention to the group's other side. The pig was looking slightly sheepish as he lowered his weapon, "I, thought I saw something moving too," he said.

"Maybe it's just rats," said the panther.

" _While_ the bullets are flying?" Rayes said incredulously. The feline only shrugged. "Let's just finish up here, I'm getting a bad feeling, things are getting a little too lively," the Sergeant finally said, the squad moving forward and continuing their cleanup work.

It took a sudden yelp and the sound of someone getting dragged off that got everyone's attention. Rayes took a quick head count, and noticed he was missing someone. "Traynor, anyone got eyes on Traynor?" he said, looking for the red-furred vulpine in question. There was a chorus of negatives, he had just up and vanished it seemed. That bad feeling was returning with a vengeance.

Something small and red suddenly flew out of a gap between two ruined buildings, hitting the panther in the face with a wet _splack_. The soldier promptly stumbled onto his rump, unintentionally catching the object that hit him while dropping his weapon. He yelped and dropped it. The object was Traynor's severed and bloody head, expression locked in a silent scream.

Then things all around them started moving. Rubble shifted as humans moved out from between buildings or from hiding spots. Many rats crawled and scampered over the debris and the ground. Bats fluttered down and perched in various places. All in all, Rayes' squad was surrounded.

A particularly tall human, with tanned skin and a belt with a large knife sheathed in it around his torso over a muscle shirt and fatigues, stepped forward. His black eyes bored into Rayes' own as he strode towards him. "You're trespassing," the human said in a deep voice, his fellows looking amongst each other and the Cornerians, the man's square jaw remaining locked, as if clenched.

"And you're dead," said a leopard member of Rayes' squad, the canine hearing the feline's rifle clicking only for the soldier to cry out in pain and the weapon to hit the ground. Daring a quick look, he saw that what looked like a rectangular piece of metal with a sharpened pointed end was sticking out of the leopard's rifle, impaling it like a stake.

A feminine giggling alerted them to the presence of a short raven-haired girl on their flank, her front soaked with blood and the fluid staining her chin. "Ah ah ah, naughty naughty," she said, giggles still escaping her as she wagged a finger at them.

' _She must be the one who killed Traynor_ ,' Rayes thought to himself. "What do you want?" he said, having to work to keep his voice steady.

"It's simple really, we want you gone, or dead," said a monotone voice from their other flank, revealing a lithe human with long blonde hair. The third human looked at them all blankly, as if they were little more than insects that he had stepped on. "The choice is dependent on whether you want more blood on your hands or not really," he droned on, causing Rayes and he was sure more than one other member of his squad to bristle.

The Cornerians started backing up, forming a circle with all weapons pointed outward. And with each step they took, the aggressors moved every closer. All hell then broke loose.

The Cornerians opened fire, a machine gun, assault rifles, and a pistol sent death careening into the humans around them. The humans rushed forward, loud hisses audible even over the gunfire. Bullets tore into them, red coating the ground, but they seemed less than affected by the weapons. Rayes bashed at one with the butt of his assault rifle, knocking over a red-haired man and firing a quick burst into the downed human. There was no respite, the pig's machine gun was managing to hold off a number of them, but it wasn't long before one got to him and dragged him out of the circle of soldiers squealing and kicking. The soldier vanished within the mob, though nobody had time to mourn as the humans actually seemed invigorated by downing one of the Cornerians.

The Cornerians' circle was getting smaller and smaller, Rayes barely managed to dodge a strike from a young woman with pink-dyed hair and shove her away only for the man with the knife to take her place. The tanned human drew his knife and stabbed forward, Rayes blocking it by desperately raising his rifle, only for the blade to impale the weapon. Thinking quickly Rayes dropped his gun and drew his pistol, only for the human to drop his knife at nearly the same time. Rayes fired his gun, and much to his surprise the human barely dodged the bullet, a long divot being dug into his jaw before the human reached for and grabbed the canine by his collar.

One moment Rayes was in among his circle of soldiers, the next he was flying through the air, and the moment after that he had landed on the base's pavement hard. The air was knocked explosively from his lungs, though he managed to keep hold of his pistol. He got back up, though his chest and back pained him, ' _Likely cracked a rib_ ,' he thought.

As he turned back he saw that his squad was getting torn apart, the blonde man had separated the panther, and was in the middle of bashing the feline's head repeatedly on a jagged piece of rubble already stained red. The girl with black hair had cornered the leopard, the other feline trying desperately to strike her with his combat knife, only for the human to effortlessly dance out of the way each time. The rest of the mob had converged on any other survivors; he could hear the sounds of screaming and ripping flesh even over the diminishing gunfire, blood and viscera filled the air around the frenzy. What stopped his heart though was he saw humans that he had thought were downed, getting back up, though they were clearly wounded and many were limping. Some didn't, though he wasn't sure what the difference was.

The tall human approached him, calmly walking towards the canine. Rayes raised his pistol almost drunkenly, only for the human to rush forward and knock it out of his hand. The canine yelped and shook the hurt appendage, reaching for his combat knife with his other one. He didn't get the chance, as the human threw a hard punch into his gut, nearly knocking his lunch out of him and causing him to fall to the ground again.

Rayes drew in a harsh breath and brought his transmitter up to his face, "Brigadier Koval, we're, we're getting slaughtered down here," he said breathlessly.

"Say again Sergeant?" was the Brigadier's reply.

"Humans, something, I don't know, they're killing us!" Rayes said before the human stomped on his wrist, shattering the transmitter and the bones underneath. He howled in pain.

The human suddenly grabbed the back of Rayes' uniform in a vise-like grip, lifting him up so that the human was behind him. "You chose poorly, now watch the consequences for attacking our prey," the human's deep voice practically purred in his ear as his gaze was wrenched to the sky. Bats, what had to be hundreds of them, were beginning to swarm and collect in a huge flock. The Arwings came back for another pass and avoided the bats, though they began circling.

Then with a loud shriek, much larger bats, easily human-sized burst from the pack towards the Arwings circling them. Most of the squadron managed to break off, but one got hit by the large mammal. The bat clung to the cockpit, no doubt panicking the pilot inside enough to make him go into an accidental nosedive. The Arwing dove towards the ground, the bat jumping off with just the right timing to avoid going with it as the craft hit the ground and turned into a fireball as the g-diffusors ignited.

Rayes could feel the human's grip tightening, digging into the uniform and then his lower back, much to the great dane's pain and discomfort. He could see the bats giving chase to the other Arwings, though they couldn't keep up with the craft, the Arwings were forced to try and avoid the bigger bats, and the mammals used that to their advantage, herding the ships into their brethren's claws. A sudden _crack_ that was more felt than heard made Rayes cry out as everything below his waist lost feeling, the human had crushed his spine! The human held Rayes up, putting his other hand on the back of his neck as he heard a much louder shriek, one that was answered by the bats in the air and still on the ground.

A shadow passed overhead as Rayes fought to remain conscious, and what he saw made his stomach drop further. It was a huge bat-like beast, much larger than the other bats he'd seen. With its large talons, it snatched up an Arwing and flapped hard, actually overpowering its engines as it headed towards the _CMD Zoness_ that seemed almost unaware of the danger.

The beast flung the captured Arwing towards the command bridge as the human snapped Rayes' neck.

* * *

 ****CMD Zoness-Airspace Above Nellis Air Force Base****

"Humans, something, I don't know, they're killing us!"

Brigadier Koval couldn't believe his ears, humans were actually fighting back against his ground troops? The big leopard gecko was about to question the Sergeant but the signal abruptly cut out.

"Sir, we're getting reports of our ground forces being assaulted by what sound like mobs of humans, our squads can't regroup," reported another officer, a beige cat, her voice was just as incredulous as Koval felt.

"No substantial resistance could exist after that bombardment," Koval said, though he was interrupted as the leader of his destroyer's resident squadron came through the line.

"Sir, we've got a large congregation of wildlife, looks like bats, they're near one of our squad's positions," the shepherd said, clearly baffled.

Despite his mounting confusion, Koval had to say something, "Keep an eye on those bats, but be careful, something isn't right here."

"Roger that sir," was the squadron leader's answer, the channel closing.

Koval quickly called for a hail to General Pepper's flagship on a priority channel, the General quickly appearing in holographic form in front of the gecko. "What is it Koval, I thought things were going smoothly?" the bloodhound said, his tone questioning.

"They were," Koval answered, "But it seems we missed some, our squads are getting ambushed by humans, and it seems things aren't going as smoothly as before, we're suddenly losing people left and right."

"Sir, we're under attack, large bats, one got on Roberts' Arwing and he's down, panicked and nosedived," the voice of his squadron leader said, tone frantic.

"Brigadier, do you know what's going on?" Pepper said, his own voice sounding confused.

"I wish I knew sir," Koval slowly replied, "Put all stations on high alert," he said to another bridge officer, the klaxon starting to ring throughout the entire destroyer, "Get all of our ground forces out of there, we're going to glass this place."

"When you're done withdrawing, I want a full report, all the data you can gather," Pepper said before the hologram winked out and the line closed.

"Yes, sir," Koval said to empty air.

"Sir, you may want to see this," said the cat from earlier, and when she didn't point it out, Koval looked where she was looking and what he saw made his jaw drop. He saw a gigantic bat, with an Arwing clutched in its claws, heading right for them.

"What are you waiting for, shoot it down!" Koval snapped, and as the orders started to be relayed, Koval turned back just as the bat flung the Arwing towards the viewport of the bridge. ' _Oh fuck me_ ,' was the only thing he thought as the Arwing smashed through.

The _CMD Zoness_ ' bridge exploded as the fighter smashed into it, a spark igniting the smaller craft's engines. Now rudderless, the large destroyer slowly nosedived into the ground, kicking up a gigantic furrow of dirt and leaving a large trench in the middle of the air base.

* * *

 **A/N: And done. Just like I said above, I'd love to hear what y'all think of this much longer chapter, even if you'd prefer I wrote shorter chapters. It should be obvious that if I were to write another chapter of a similar length to this one, it most likely won't come out as fast as this one did, unless I get hit with a lot of inspiration like I was for this one.**

 **Also, many thanks to Sheppard for helping me out for the last two thirds of the chapter, clarifying when Koval's attack was happening in regards to the time of day.**

 **And now to answer some likely questions:**

 **Yes these vampires can be out during the day (no sparkling in the sun) and yes I know that's been done before as well as losing power because of the daylight. More powerful vampires and dhampires (human/vampire hybrid for those that don't know) lose a bit less power than less powerful vampires when in daylight. They're still stronger than humans but the difference is made much less to practically even when in direct sunlight if a vampire is weak enough.**

 **Vampire Covens: Groups of vampires. Led by Regents. Are all connected by a telepathic hive mind that is centered around the ruling Regent.**

 **Regents: Regents are the head of a vampire coven, no questions asked usually because they're the most powerful and oldest vampire there. That's not to say a Regent is all-powerful as with the right strategy a less powerful vampire can still take them down, they still have the same weaknesses as a regular vampire. They also transform into a unique bat form, as demonstrated here. They act like a nexus for the coven's mental hive mind, and have a drawing effect on other vampires that can extend for many miles if the Regent is particularly powerful and/or focusing on the effect. They also have a mild transformative effect on vampires under them, causing a shifting of the subordinate vampire's features to more mimic the Regent's. the longer a vampire is subordinate to a Regent, the more like them they become.**

 **Telepathy: Vampire covens, led by a Regent, have a sort of mental connection similar to a hive mind. The Regent acts like a nexus and is able to read the thoughts of many of their subordinates at once if they're skilled enough. This also allows quite fast spread of information around a coven, as soon as one vampire knows something, all they have to do is open their mind to the telepathic connection and the entire coven will know it. For example, the Regent knew where the bridge on the Destroyer was because of absorbing the knowledge from the late Traynor.**

 **Tongue: All vampires possess a long tongue with a whip-like end, though some dhampires don't have them. The whip end is actually pointed and acts like a very sensitive nerve probe. Vampires can use this to gain access to a human or other non-coven vampire's memories by touching the nearly-exposed nerves to the central nervous system. Though this does create a two-way connection, the "victim" is also going to be on the receiving end of memories from the vampire "attacker."**

 **Shapeshifting: All vampires can shapeshift, usually into a bat, rat, wolf, or patch of mist if they're so inclined. More skilled and/or older vampires can achieve transformation into a human-sized bat, a larger rat and wolf, and can stay in mist form for longer. Regents can shapeshift into a bat-beast as seen here in the chapter. If a vampire is caught while transformed in the day time, they will be locked in that form until the night. Only Regents are exempt from this rule, but they are still cannot transform while in direct sunlight.**

 **Vampire Healing: As stated in the chapter, vampire saliva increases healing speed and can keep infection away, but vampires also have a natural healing factor that can be supercharged in this manner. It works fastest with things like superficial wounds like cuts, allowing practically instantaneous healing.**

 **Vampire Weaknesses as they pertain to this story: Starving from lack of blood, should be obvious. They aren't vulnerable to holy objects, but if one has a sharp enough point you can stab them with it lol. A vampire can assuredly be killed if you can manage to cause so much trauma to their heart that their healing isn't enough, the best way to do this is with a bullet or two if you can manage to hit them. Any kind of bullet will do, it doesn't need to be silver or silver-coated or anything. Just shoot them in the heart and they're down for good. Particularly powerful explosives also work.**

 **And if you have any other questions you can shoot me a PM or ask them in a review, I'll be more than happy to answer them. Though with that expanded codex you might not have any ha hahaha! Please feel free to leave a review, it can only help me do better at this, and please tell me if you want to see more chapters of a similar length or possibly longer or shorter.**

 **And without further ado, I'll see you all next time on First Contact: Nocturne!**


	3. 2: First Blood

**A/N: Hey everyone! Here's the next installment of First Contact: Nocturne! Yes, I know it's rather late, some RL stuff and some laziness I don't really have an excuse for is to blame for that. All I can really say I'm sorry and I hope this chapter is up to snuff. If any of you are wondering about Age of Eternal War the next chapter has hit on something I need to handle delicately, so that may be a while longer.**

 **Another violence and gore warning on this chapter. Just giving you a heads-up.**

 **Disclaimer: See Prologue.**

 **And without further ado please read, review, and enjoy!**

* * *

 ****General Pepper's Flagship****

"Vince!" the loud shouting voice startled the arctic fox from some well-deserved sleep, "Vince we've got a situation topside, we need you now!" The shout was then accompanied by a frantic banging on his door. Galvanized into action, Vince slapped on his transmitter and haphazardly started pulling on his lab coat, having slept in his clothes as he went to answer the door.

The one to greet him was his blue jay comrade Arthur, the avian looking much more ruffled than was normal.

"What is it Arti?" Vince said, still rubbing some sleep from his eyes.

"Follow me, I'll fill you in on the way," the avian said, already turning on his heel and practically jogging down the hall. The arctic fox continued fumbling with his coat as he hurried after him.

"What's got your feathers ruffled friend?" Vince said, finally managing to get his coat on.

"We've got two ships down, one last night and then not even half an hour ago the _Zoness_ was brought down," the avian answered.

To say that this news startled Vince would be an understatement, "A Destroyer was downed, by what?" His voice betrayed his puzzlement.

"We're not sure, Pepper sent a team to recover the logs from the Destroyer now, hopefully it'll tell us something," Arthur answered, "Pepper wants us to get to the bottom of the first disappearing ship, then he'll make an announcement when we figure out what took down the _Zoness_."

The two made good time to the communications room on Pepper's flagship, and they found a room buzzing with tension. Everyone was speaking quietly, speculation on what happened, what it meant for the direction of the war and other various things. The arctic fox could swear that some speculated that there was a new human weapon in play.

"What's going on here?" Vince said after a quick salute to the General which spurred a dark-furred canine named Travis to motion him over.

"We've got the data here Vince, as little as it is," the canine said, already moving out of the way so the arctic fox could get a better glance at the information on the screen.

"You got any idea where the Arwing came down Trav?" Arthur said, moving in on the other side of the two, eyes already glued to the images and words on the screen. The canine was quick to swipe a map onto the screen, a red blinking blip showing the downed craft's location as well as information on the area.

"Colorado Springs, that's not a place Pepper plopped down, is it?" Vince said.

The avian shook his head, "Nope, he had them down here," he replied, pointing further south on the map, "didn't want us going into the mountains yet. That was Star Fox's job."

"Could that be one of their Arwings?" the arctic fox replied with concern in his voice.

Travis didn't need any more encouragement, bringing his transmitter to his muzzle, "Peppy, do you read? This is Pepper's comms room, we've got a missing aircraft, is all of Star Fox accounted for?"

The hare's voice gave a quick reply from the transmitter, "Missing aircraft? We haven't launched any of ours yet, so that's a negative. You're saying you're missing a ship?"

"We lost contact with a ship late last night," Travis explained, "We're trying to decipher who it was."

"Well, Star Fox is all accounted for here," Peppy said, "I'd love to help but I didn't know about a missing ship until just now, sorry 'bout that."

Travis sighed, "Oh well. We'll figure it out, thanks Peppy."

"He didn't know either?" Vince said to Travis as the canine lowered his transmitter.

"Nope, it wasn't Star Fox, but… who would be in that area?" the canine replied.

Vince pulled over a spare chair, moving Travis aside so he had full access to the holographic display, "What's the Arwing's serial?" he said as he pulled up the correct screen.

"Should be in the corner," Travis said, pointing at the spot on the screen. After a nod of thanks the vulpine quickly ran a backward check on the code.

"Alright, it's a 2C model, who runs those?" he said to his two companions.

"Star Fox rocks the 2A's," Travis chimed in, rubbing his forehead with a paw, "2B's are reserved for scouting missions, I think Husky and Bulldog run the 2C."

"Run some back checks on Husky's fighters," Arthur said, though Vince was one step ahead of the blue jay, pulling up information for all of Husky's registered Arwings. He felt his stomach drop when he found the code of the downed Arwing matched that of Husky 1.

"Sheila," the arctic fox muttered under his breath, "That's Spitz's Arwing!"

Today couldn't have gotten worse, though when a soldier burst in through the doors, looking green even through his fur Vince thought he may have decided too soon. "General Pepper, sir, we've recovered the logs from the _Zoness_!" the bulldog nearly shouted, clearly flustered as well as nauseous.

Vince soon understood the nausea, the canine reeked of a smell that took the arctic fox a moment to identify, ' _Blood_ ,' was the only word that ran through his mind as a chill ran down his spine. The soldier didn't seem to have any blood on him though or any wounds.

"What do you have to report Major?" Pepper said, his calm tone also calming the soldier.

The other canine took a deep breath before speaking up, "The _Zoness_ went down with all hands, sir."

The room became so silent one could hear a pin drop. After an agonizingly long moment Pepper replied, "Explain," his tone deceptively calm, but Vince could see that the older bloodhound was anything but calm on the inside.

The bulldog only raised his transmitter and tapped a few icons, the large display usually used to communicate with the rest of the fleet soon lit up with a recording, likely taken from a heads-up display. The recording showed a squad of Cornerian soldiers disembarking from a shuttle onto the downed Destroyer. The cameraman soon panned the view over the interior of the docking bay, which seemed to have remained intact. The Destroyer appeared to have landed on its belly, or at least come to rest that way judging from the fact that the squad advanced across the floor of the hangar.

There were mercifully few Arwings still left in the hangar, which likely meant most of the _Zoness_ ' aircraft were out when it crashed. The ones that were still there had fallen onto the hangar floor, smashed. The soldiers didn't waste any time, forcing their way deeper into the interior of the ship.

The sight that met them caused many to gasp and some to gag. Vince was sure he heard someone further back in the room vomit into a trashcan.

The corridor's floor was slick with blood, and there were pieces of Cornerian everywhere, some larger and more identifiable than others. In a moment of morbid fascination, Vince was able to pick out an arm in the muck. Many exclamations and protests over having to tramp through blood and body parts came through over the recording. One of the soldiers went rifling through the mess for tags, to identify who had gone down.

Things didn't get any better as the recording showed the squad moving deeper into the ship; if anything they got worse, Vince felt like throwing up himself when he saw a crewmember torn in twain lying in a pool of blood, the remainder mauled beyond recognition. Thankfully the arctic fox kept his lunch in place at the sight, though he couldn't say the same for many others as the horrors only kept coming.

The squad finally came to the bridge, where more devastation would have been only more desensitizing to the many traumatized Cornerians. But the bridge was different; it looked to be the sight of an explosion, though the exact reason wasn't noticeable. However, at a spoken command, the recording showed the final horror. A pile of bodies, some the charred remains of the bridge crew, others likely having been dragged, was set right in the middle of the ruined space. And slathered in blood on the floor in front of the gruesome pile was a single word.

 _Nocturne_.

After showing the word for a moment longer, the recording cut off. Everyone in the room remained silent, some recovering their wits, others too shocked to speak.

"What is the meaning of this?" Pepper's voice jolted Vince out of his stupor, "Do the logs reveal anything?"

"They do sir, there's no video, but the audio is fine. This is from right before the _Zoness_ came down," the soldier replied, and the speakers came to life.

"Brigadier Koval, we're, getting slaughtered down here," a voice said, one Vince recognized as Sergeant Rayes' voice.

"Say again Sergeant?" said Brigadier's voice answered.

"Sir, we're getting reports of our ground forces being assaulted by what sounds like mobs of humans, our squads can't regroup," a female voice Vince didn't recognize chimed in on the recording.

"No substantial resistance could exist after that bombardment," the arctic fox heard Koval say, the deceased gecko's voice sounding completely baffled. Vince couldn't help but share in that bafflement, the last he'd heard Koval's detachment had had smooth going.

"Sir, we've got a large congregation of wildlife, looks like bats, they're near one of our squad's positions," another voice butted in that he recognized as belonging to Major Hall, the commander of the _Zoness_ ' squadron.

There was a slight pause before Koval's voice spoke over the logs again, "Keep an eye on those bats, but be careful, something isn't right here."

"Roger that sir," Hall's voice responded.

The next thing Vince heard over the recording was Pepper's own voice, surprising the arctic fox somewhat, "What is it Koval, I thought things were going smoothly?" he heard the bloodhound say.

The Brigadier's recorded answer was hesitant, "They were. But it seems we missed some, our squads are getting ambushed by humans, and it seems things aren't going as smoothly as before, we're suddenly losing people left and right."

Hall's frantic voice cut in, "Sir, we're under attack, one got on Roberts' Arwing and he's down, panicked and nosedived."

"Brigadier, do you know what's going on?" Pepper's recorded inquiry piped up.

"I wish I knew sir," Koval's reply was slow, "Put all stations on high alert," an alarm klaxon soon rang in the background of the recording, "Get all of our ground forces out of there, we're going to glass this place."

"When you're done withdrawing, I want a full report, all the data you can gather," Pepper's voice said.

"Yes, sir," Koval replied, his tone betraying the late Brigadier's frustration.

"Sir, you may want to see this," the same feminine voice spoke up slowly, seeming in awe of something.

There was a brief pause before Koval could be heard practically shouting, "What are you waiting for, shoot it down!"

Before any of the background communication could dissipate, the recording cut off with the sound of a loud _BOOM_.

Everyone was silent for what felt like a long moment. Then Pepper spoke up.

"Hail the rest of the fleet, tell them that the humans are now using bats to deliver some kind of weapon and that they used it to take down the _Zoness_."

"Yes sir," Vince answered immediately, hoping that was all that was going on.

* * *

 ****Outside Colorado Springs, Colorado****

Sheila was bored.

She and Cordelion had been walking for what felt like hours to the husky, even though every time she checked her transmitter it had only been a few minutes since the last time she'd checked it. Thankfully she could judge the distance they'd traveled by how much the town had moved. Whatever had been in the Regent's blood that had given her plenty of energy unfortunately didn't give her any extra patience. The vampire now walked beside her, to her right and only half a step behind, skirting her personal space as always.

Acting on an impulse, the husky decided to ply her assigned companion with a question, "So, how many "covens" are out there?"

"Many," was her only answer. Sheila groaned, hoping for something more specific, though she guessed it made sense, she was essentially an enemy combatant after all. Better to give her a non-specific answer rather than give her superiors something useful.

Again, she wondered if she could get away with trying to look for Wolf and tell him she was sorry for what she said to him on the Destroyer. A wave of sorrow washed over her, making her falter a little in her steps as she remembered the incident, her breath catching in her throat. She could sense Cordelion's own steps slowing to match her own and the husky quickly returned to her previous speed.

"Something troubles you," the vampire's simple and completely serious statement made Sheila stop in her tracks.

"How?" she said, turning to face him, unsure if she should be unnerved or annoyed at the vampire.

Cordelion looked her in the eye, "You just told me," he said, an impish glint in his eyes even if he didn't show any other outward sign of amusement.

This did annoy the husky, though she only let out a small low growl, ' _Must have gotten that from his mother_ ,' she thought to herself. With an exhale through her nose, she let it go and continued walking. "What's it matter to you anyway?" she couldn't help saying as she stepped away, the vampire no doubt following right after.

"Emotional uncertainty means conflict, and an emotional conflict during war is disastrous," Cordelion replied, his voice not betraying any offense, "You came out here alone for a reason, Ms. Spitz, away from the rest of your kind. The coven knows why, but I do not know what you intend to do from here."

Sheila nearly yelped as the vampire suddenly sped up, stopping in front of her with his arms crossed as the husky also stopped. The two of them were nearly even in height, Cordelion only slightly taller than the husky. His eyes bored into her own as he spoke, "My mother has her plans, and though I don't normally agree with them, circumstances demand we work for our continued survival regardless of our differences before."

"Wait, what?" was Sheila's only response. Did Cordelion just tell her he didn't agree with his own mother? After thinking about it a moment, she guessed the Cornerians' arrival must have caused quite the shock to everyone, and that included the vampires.

She didn't get a chance to continue talking, as Cordelion took a step towards her, making her take a step back, "And I need to know how you intend to move forward, or there _will_ be problems." The vampire's words held an edge to them that made Sheila take another step back as he continued, "Do you intend to find this 'Wolf' and any answers he may have or do you intend to deliver my mother's message right away?"

The moment of silence afterward left Sheila's mind racing. On the one hand, any answers Wolf may have may also be of use to the vampires as well. On the other, any delay may mean the Regent would send others after her and Cordelion, or worse after any Cornerians they found in their territory. That included Wolf.

"I intend to find him, anything he can figure out may be of use to you too," she finally said, choosing her words carefully.

Cordelion looked into her eyes a moment longer, and then finally nodded, "Acceptable," he replied, then reached for her gun. He unhooked the holster from his belt, and then held it out towards her grip first. The husky looked at the weapon, eyes narrowed, wondering if she dared to reach for it that the vampire would snatch it away from her. She hesitantly reached for it, and then took it from the vampire. It felt good to have the familiar weight on her hip once again as she hooked it to the belt of her flight suit.

"Why?" she couldn't help but say to the vampire, cocking her head to the side a little as she did so.

"Better you are armed if we run into any trouble, you are more familiar with it than I," was his reply.

Sheila couldn't help but wonder why he was so trusting of her so suddenly; then again if he could be out in the sunlight, he may still be faster than her and stronger for all she knew. And his close proximity meant he could likely disable her if she tried to harm him, especially since he was still facing her.

"We shall start there," Cordelion said, startling Sheila out of her thoughts, the vampire pointing towards the town, "I have a faint smell of rogues from that direction, they may know more."

Sheila squinted as she looked into the distance, "And what do you propose we do when we get there?"

"Be discreet," was the only answer she got.

"And how do we get there before sundown?" she retorted, and then sighed as Cordelion closed the distance. "Really?" she said, though Cordelion nodded to her again. The husky let herself be hefted almost effortlessly into the vampire's arms, Cordelion taking off into a light run, noticeably faster than what she could achieve herself.

They made quite good time, the human town becoming visible within two hours. Cordelion seemed almost tireless, though he did slow down to a jog after the first hour, then put her down to walk the rest of the way as they got much closer. Details were soon visible as they closed in on the suburbs, Sheila could begin to make out buildings, though there were very small due to the distance. The two still set a quick pace; keeping a set distance from any roads so they wouldn't be spotted.

As they closed in, Cordelion increased his pace until he was walking slightly ahead of her, and his posture became stiff and his shoulders raised, the vampire was definitely on edge. She unconsciously put a hand on her gun; whatever could be making him uneasy was more than likely trouble.

With a raised hand, Cordelion called a halt, "We're not alone," he said.

Sheila immediately scanned the surrounding area with her eyes, looking through the vegetation and rocky areas for anything out of the ordinary. She couldn't detect anything, and that made her even more nervous. She slowly drew her gun and held it at her side as she noticed Cordelion drawing his own weapon.

She heard the faint sound of a rock shifting behind her and she immediately turned, her handgun raised. But there was nothing there, only rocks and grasses. Just as she started to get her breathing back under control, there was another sound, a rustling in the grass off to her left. The husky whirled on it, trying to detect where it was coming from. But again she couldn't get her eyes on whatever was making the noise.

A hiss to the front drew her attention, where two people suddenly walked out of cover, one popping out of a particularly tall stand of grass and the other from behind a rock outcropping. Their eyes burned a hateful red, claws extended from their fingers. "Rogues," Cordelion muttered, his gun already trained on the advancing pair. Sheila quickly pointed her own weapon at them as well.

"What is this? One of Regent Eveline's accompanying an invader?" one of the rogue vampires said, a tan-skinned woman with light brown hair, glaring daggers at Cordelion. Sheila realized that must be the Regent's name.

"Has she thrown her lot in with them?" the other rogue, a pale man with a dark crew cut spat.

"She carries a message for her kind," Cordelion said, his voice cold, his aim not wavering.

The other man took a deep inhale through his nose, "She carries the coven's scent," he said, which stopped the pair's slow advance.

"They've claimed her," the woman said, her voice whisper-like, but then she hissed, "Your precious Regent is too late; Regent Tobias' coven has already brought down one of their massive ships an hour ago."

Sheila's eyes nearly bugged out of her skull, "They brought down a Destroyer?" she couldn't help blurting out. This seemed to cause the rogue pair some amusement, the two vampires snickering and grinning widely, showing off their fangs.

"That ought to send them the message loud and clear," the man said, his mirth still evident.

To her even further surprise, Cordelion nodded, "Then there's no use for a message, but there may be answers to find yet. One of her own is somewhere on Earth, he may hold answers to why her kind is here." Sheila wasn't sure whether to be grateful the vampire was sticking up for her or annoyed he was talking about her as if she wasn't there.

"Why? There's no reason to drag her around, I say we kill her and leave her body for them to find," the woman said, baring her fangs.

Cordelion took a step towards the pair, "She is under the coven's protection, I will not allow that to happen," he said, his gun not lowered in the slightest.

"And since when were you doing any Regent's bidding, let alone your mother's, the famous Rogue Cordelion, fallen so low as to kneel before a Regent," the woman said, her tone taunting and a sneer curling her lip.

 _Bang bang bang_!

The woman shook and fell backward, blood spraying from the middle of her chest as the three shots rang out. She didn't get back up.

A loud hiss was the only warning before the man leapt on Cordelion, the vampire's gun being knocked from his grasp or discarded as it went flying. Sheila hardly had any time to process the motion as the two devolved into a flurry of swinging limbs and a storm of impacting claws that sent small clouds of bloody mist into the air.

As she watched, Cordelion flung his opponent off of him, jumped to his own feet and then lunged at the rogue with fangs bared. His fangs snapped together with an audible _clack_ on empty air, the rogue vampire having barely leaned out of the way. The other man tried to swipe with his claws across Cordelion's back, only for his arm to be caught and wrenched away. The long-haired vampire used the motion to swing his opponent into a large nearby rock with enough force to crack it and send up a small cloud of dust. With so much motion, Sheila couldn't get a bead on either fighter.

The two vampires continued to fight like rabid animals. Each strike sounded like it broke bone, yet the two continued on, continually withdrawing then lunging. Dust was kicked up and rocks were smashed by one combatant or the other being slammed into them. Blood would mist only to be carried away by the wind.

After what felt like forever to the spectating husky, though it was likely a minute or two at best, Cordelion got the edge. The long-haired vampire latched onto his opponent's arm with his claws and yanked, the arm being torn free at the elbow in a horrendous ripping of flesh. As the rogue let loose a bestial screech of pain, Cordelion smacked him once in the face with his own limb, knocking the rogue on his back. Taking advantage, Cordelion leapt onto the rogue, straddling the other vampire and unleashing a barrage of claw strikes that sent blood flying with each strike. Sheila numbly noted that a bit of it splashed near her feet as she continued to stare.

After leaving the rogue's face a torn mess, Cordelion seemed to decide his opponent had had enough. The vampire got off of the rogue, walking slowly back towards Sheila, various wounds on his body and tears on his clothing, though the least severe looking inuries were already healing up. She slowly lowered her gun, then a rapid movement behind Cordelion caught her attention and she raised it back up.

 _Bang!_

The rogue fell backward, a new hole in his chest. He landed flat on his back and didn't move again.

Cordelion looked between her and the fallen rogue, "Thank you," he finally said as he went to retrieve his gun. Slightly taken aback by the statement, Sheila could only nod silently in response.

"Should we, bury them?" she asked, seeing as plenty of evidence was still left around.

Cordelion only shook his head, "Mother Earth knows our touch, and takes the proper steps to make sure we don't overstay our welcome in her grasp," he pointed to the woman's body, which Sheila saw had already started to rapidly decay, practically disintegrating as she watched.

Intrigued and disgusted at the same time, Sheila decided to leave the matter alone as she looked away from the decaying bodies. Cordelion quickly left the scene, prompting her to follow, glad to be rid of the quickly stinking corpses as she holstered her weapon.

The two again set a quick walking pace, making good time towards the human town. "What's this place called anyway?" Sheila couldn't help but say to pass the time.

"Colorado Springs, though I don't know much more than that," Cordelion replied. Just as Sheila was able to make out details of the beginnings of the suburbs, Cordelion stopped again, the vampire sniffing at the air audibly.

"What is it?" Sheila said, slowly reaching for her gun again.

"A scent I'd thought I'd never smell again, an old friend," was the vampire's only answer as he again set a quick pace, with more enthusiasm than before the husky noted.

* * *

 ****Suburban Colorado Springs, Colorado****

"Guys, we're coming into the city. Keep your heads down," Nathan said to the two Cornerians with him as he tried to guide the truck through the streets as quickly and discreetly as possible.

The two were quick to try to conceal themselves as best they could. The smaller vulpine Fox had thrown on an old hoodie of Nathan's, which was almost comically big for the young tod, the hood hiding all but the tip of his muzzle from view. The larger lupine Wolf in the passenger seat next to Nathan had lowered his seat and covered himself with a blanket from the glove box.

"How far away?" Wolf said, his voice muffled by the blanket over his face.

"Not far," Nathan answered, chuckling as he made a sharp right turn, "Just down here and off to the corner."

"Where are we going anyway?" Wolf said, keeping the questions coming.

Nathan suddenly had to pull over as a large truck in military camo colors sped by, likely more National Guard. "A friend of mine has a house up here," Nathan explained after the truck was gone, "He told me if I was ever in the area and needed a place to stay that I was more than welcome to stop by. We can camp out here without anyone knowing."

"And he's not home?" Wolf posed the inevitable question.

"Nope, he's off in… I think Kansas for some military training, he won't be home for a while," Nathan answered.

"Perfect, we got a way in, or are we breaking and entering?" the joking tone in Wolf's voice was distinguishable even through the blanket.

"I know how to get in," Nathan said, chuckling again at the lupine's jab.

Nathan expertly drove through the streets and the trio was soon at their destination, a small suburban house with a paved driveway that he pulled into easily. Nathan looked up at the overcast skies cast a gloomy atmosphere over everything, ' _Probably going to be a storm later_ ,' Nathan thought to himself as he observed them as he turned the car off.

"Alright, let me unlock the door first, then I'll come back," he said to the two, and after a quick look to make sure no one was watching, he popped out of the vehicle and headed towards the door. Just like he'd been told, the key wasn't hidden under the welcome mat, but instead it was under a potted plant. The door was quickly unlocked and Nathan was heading back to the vehicle in a heartbeat.

"Go inside and make yourselves at home," he told the two, "I'll grab the gear from here and I'll be back in a second." After hearing that Wolf was quick to get out of the car and then hoist up the injured vulpine, and then rushed into the house to avoid prying eyes. Nathan was soon to follow with the red-furred tod's crutches, the large black briefcase, and the large suitcase with the other supplies from the trunk.

The house itself was pretty small, with a small sitting room with two couches and a TV mounted on the wall opposite of the front door, a large glass door overlooking the deck and backyard on the same wall as the TV set off to the side of the appliance. In an adjoining hallway were three bedrooms and a bathroom. A decently sized kitchen was set next to the sitting room on the same side as the front door, separated by a wall from the rest of the house. Combined with the calm cream colored walls and oaken floors it was a nice house, if small. Nathan's friend had definitely thought ahead to the long periods of time that he'd be away; the house would make for a perfect place to unwind after long bouts of military training.

Nathan walked over to the coffee table sitting in the middle of the room and picked up a long black remote. He pushed a button and the TV came on, all that came on was white noise and static, making him wince.

"Yo Wolf," Nathan began, the lupine was throwing on a heavier jacket from his bag before his ears twitched and he turned to fact the human. "When you said your scientists hacked into our satellites, did they hack into _all_ of them?" Nathan concluded.

"I wouldn't bet against it," Wolf answered as he flopped onto one of the couches, "They probably killed all comms for you guys on this planet to avoid the news being spread. I doubt anyone here knows what's going on in the slightest."

"We ran into an awful lot of National Guard for no one knowing anything," Nathan said, thinking back to the large presence they'd seen on the way in, "They wouldn't be patrolling the streets unless something was up. They must know something."

"Anything important up here military wise?" Wolf said as he caressed his muzzle in thought.

"The Aerospace Command Center isn't too far from here, they may have been the ones to discover the start of the attack," Nathan reasoned.

"Figures," Wolf said, the large lupine lifting his arm and starting to mess with his transmitter's settings for what seemed to be the umpteenth time.

Curiosity getting the better of him, Nathan looked over in the lupine's direction, "You've been messing with that thing for ages, what are you even trying to do?" he questioned.

"I've been trying to get a call through without alerting the guys on the ship," was Wolf's answer, not looking up from his work, "With my transmitter in pieces on the ship, and after I finally disabled that damn tracking chip the CDF has everyone get, I can't seem to get my calls to work."

A pit of worry formed in Nate's stomach, "How recently did you disable that?" he said, urgency filling his tone.

"Chill out Nate, I got it off almost as soon as we left last night," Wolf replied calmly, "They have no idea where we are. It's just a matter of telling them," he continued.

"I left them my number before we took off with Fox," Nathan blurted out, holding up his phone afterward.

"If they call you, they can easily track you, ya know?" Wolf said, somewhat skeptic.

Nathan grinned, "Not anymore," he said, "I just turned off the location services on it. We are completely under the radar," he tapped his phone for emphasis.

"Nothing of yours can be tracked at all?" Wolf said quizzically.

"Not a single thing," was Nathan's answer, a grin on his face, "All we need to do is wait for them to call us."

Wolf smiled faintly at how things seemed to be going well, the pair sitting in companionable silence for a moment. Nathan then patted Wolf's knee and spoke up, "You hungry Wolf? I'm sure I can fix up a meal real quick."

"Yes, thank you," was the lupine's ravenous answer. Nathan quickly went to do just that, heading towards the kitchen. Though just as he was about to close the door behind him, the doorbell rang, causing everyone to freeze in place.

"You two, get down, hide," Nathan told the two Cornerians as he went to answer the door. Wolf helped Fox hide behind the other couch and out of sight before ducking down himself.

As Nathan opened the door, he immediately noticed that he had to look up. The person he was looking at was a very tall well-built man with a tight fitting white t-shirt on, dark blue jeans cinched with a belt and heavy work boots on his feet. The stranger had a very thickset face, with dark eyes that gazed shrewdly about, and it seemed absolutely no hair on his head or face.

"Hello," the man said with a very thick Russian accent, "I am Vasili, I live across the street," he continued, jerking a thumb over his shoulder at the house across the road.

"Hello to you too, what brings you here, if you don't mind me asking?" Nathan answered, slightly taken aback by the occurrence.

"I saw a strange car in the driveway, and I wondered if perhaps something was up," was the large man's answer, setting off alarm bells in Nate's head.

"Nope, nothing's wrong here, just staying over for a bit," was Nathan's answer, he sincerely hoped his nerves didn't show in his voice.

"Hmm," Vasili said, putting a hand to his chin, "You look familiar. Oh, you are a friend of Jack's yes? Your name is, Nathaniel, right?"

"Nathan, actually," was Nate's reply, then he thought for a moment, "Wait, are you _that_ Vasili, the one he told me about, the fitness instructor down at the local gym?"

"Da, that is me," large man replied, starting to grin himself.

"Well, glad to meet you in person, Vasili," Nathan said, holding his hand out. The large man quickly gave a firm handshake. After releasing Nate's hand, Vasili gave a quick sniff, his brow creasing in thought.

"You brought dogs with you?" Vasili stated, his tone quizzical and an eyebrow quirked upward.

Nathan felt a nervous lump in his throat, "Yeah, I brought a couple dogs down with me," he replied, hoping the other man didn't notice.

Vasili leaned in towards Nathan, looking him in the eye, and then whispered conspiratorially, "Ms. Peterson down the street is terribly allergic, you'll want to keep them inside as much as possible if you can help it, she will chew you up and spit you out if she so much as catches a glimpse of them. And maybe wash your clothes, you smell like you've been sleeping in a kennel." The large man chuckled quietly, Nathan hesitantly joining in.

"I'll keep it in mind, it was nice meeting you Vasili, Nathan said.

"The pleasure was all mine," the large man answered, "If you need anything, just let me know. I would suggest hunkering down until the storm blows over though, I have a feeling we're in for quite a doozy." And with that Vasili turned and walked away, Nathan watching the large man until he had crossed the road before closing the door.

"Alright, we're in the clear guys, just one of the neighbors," Nathan said, and Wolf helped Fox back up onto the couch. "Must have seen the car in the driveway," he couldn't help remarking.

"He sounded like he knows your friend," Wolf said, having finished helping Fox take a seat, the lupine sitting down next to the vulpine on the couch.

"Yeah, Jack told me about him a couple times, he was much bigger in person than I thought he'd be," Nathan said, chuckling.

As Wolf opened his muzzle, an audible growling was heard. The trio looked between each other before a sheepish expression spread over Fox's face.

"Sorry about the distraction guys, I'll go and make that food now," Nathan said as he returned to his previous task and entered the kitchen. He may have been hearing things, but he was sure he almost heard Fox whimper as he left. Thinking to himself that Wolf would probably be able to comfort the tod, Nathan focused on the task ahead. Though he couldn't help but think of how many ways it could go wrong.

* * *

 **A/N: Well, that chapter is finished. I hope that was all up to par with the previous ones. This one I'll admit was hard to write because it has a couple mirror scenes from First Contact. But, I managed to finish it as you all can see. The next chapter should hopefully be interesting, though I say that with more hope than certainty.**

 **Anyway, I'm done rambling, I'll see you all next time in the next installment of First Contact: Nocturne!**


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